Basketball - Utah Jazz news

• The Lakers-Heat NBA Finals is a classic Grit vs. Glamour matchup. Who will prevail?

  29-09-2020 23:49
  
  On paper, this 2020 NBA Finals matchup of Lakers vs. Heat might be deemed a mismatch, pairing a season-long juggernaut against a foe that only reached its full potential in the postseason. Of course, Bucks vs. Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals was supposed to be a mismatch, too, as was Celtics vs. Heat in the East finals.Perhaps that’s why they actually play the games?The point is, while Los Angeles joined the select ranks of championship favorites the moment they landed Anthony Da
  
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• Nebraska officials defend $27M virus testing contract with Utah company

  29-09-2020 23:39
  
  Lincoln, Neb. • Nebraska officials are defending the state’s $27 million contract with a Utah company to provide coronavirus testing services that some lawmakers have questioned because it was hastily arranged without taking bids.In early April, state labs were running short on testing supplies at the same time all states were trying to significantly increase testing for the virus, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Doug Carlson, with the state’s Department of Administrative Ser
  
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• An inmate has died after an ‘altercation’ at the Utah State Prison

  29-09-2020 23:28
  
  An inmate at the Utah State Prison died Monday evening after an altercation with another inmate, prison officials announced Tuesday.Officials released little details about the death, saying only that the man died “after his involvement in an altercation with another inmate” at the Orquirrh facility in Draper. Neither the name of the deceased, nor the other person involved in the fight, were immediately released.Prison officials said the inmate’s death is not believed to be caus
  
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• Commentary: Leading Utah doctors call for a move to orange and a mask mandate

  29-09-2020 22:33
  
  As leaders and physicians in Utah’s health care community, we’ve been watching cautiously as cases of new COVID-19 have continued to rise in the past 10 days throughout the state and, in particular, several counties.We have urged all Utahns to heed the serious warnings from medical experts regarding this virus, and to take proactive measures to protect their health and the health of others through steps to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus in our communities. Yet, many are n
  
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• Burgess Owens expands his campaign staff for stretch run

  29-09-2020 22:12
  
  Republican Burgess Owens is beefing up his campaign staff for the stretch run in Utah’s 4th Congressional District. Owens has added political veteran Michael Clement to his team. Clement, a graduate of the University of Utah, unsuccessfully ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives earlier this year.Clement is joining the Owens organization to head up field operations for the campaign according to Adam Jones of Red Rock Strategies.“Due to the campaign’s growth, we&rsquo
  
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• Paul Krugman: Trump’s debt, his future and ours

  29-09-2020 22:00
  
  The bombshell New York Times report on Donald Trump’s tax returns is a remarkable feat of journalism. The team deserves special praise for making their findings comprehensible to general readers and not getting lost in the details.Yet like many other revelations in the Trump era, the tax news falls into the category of “shocking but not surprising.” Many observers had already surmised that Trump paid little or no taxes, that his claims of brilliant business success were a ficti
  
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• Utah reports 694 new coronavirus cases Tuesday

  29-09-2020 21:19
  
  Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every weekday morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.With 694 new coronavirus cases reported on Tuesday, Utah’s rate of new diagnoses continued to rise.For the past week, the Utah Department of Health has tallied 1,012 new positive test results per day on average — continuing a
  
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• The Pac-12 is eligible for the College Football Playoff, but the climb to get there is steep

  29-09-2020 21:19
  
  Once the Pac-12 announced last week that it would push forward with a fall football season, it didn’t take very long for one key big-picture topic to come to the forefront.What will it take for a Pac-12 team to get selected for the College Football Playoff?That is a tricky question without an easy, obvious answer, but here is what’s clear. The Pac-12 did not have a good re-entry into the Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday. With Pac-12 teams again eligible for the poll, only Oregon hit
  
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• Data reveals what Latter-day Saint leaders talk about at General Conference and how it changes over time

  29-09-2020 21:00
  
  Not a General Conference goes by that someone among the Latter-day Saint faithful hasn’t uttered words to this effect:“It seems like [fill in a topic here] has been mentioned a lot this conference.”One year the heightened subject might be family history or self-reliance or pornography. Another time it could be drugs or the Book of Mormon or the Word of Wisdom.But unless someone actually researched every sermon, how would members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint
  
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• SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett tied to faith group ex-members say subjugates women

  29-09-2020 20:17
  
  Washington • President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the “head” of the family and faith. Former members of the group, called People of Praise, say it teaches that wives must submit to the will of their husbands.Federal appeals judge Amy Coney Barrett has not commented publicly about her own or her family’s involvement, and a People of Praise spokesman
  
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• Report: Trump privately mocks Latter-day Saints as he publicly seeks their votes

  29-09-2020 20:15
  
  While President Donald Trump is actively courting the support of Latter-day Saints for this year’s election, he has mocked its members and their practices in private — along with those of other religious groups, The Atlantic reported on Tuesday.That ranges from joking about religious undergarments worn by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to blaming Mitt Romney’s membership in it for his loss in the 2012 presidential election, according to a story writt
  
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• Commentary: Vote no on Constitutional Amendment G

  29-09-2020 19:59
  
  Speaking as one voice on one of the most contentious current issues, the Utah Citizens' Counsel (UCC) — a non-partisan group with extensive public policy experience — urges defeat of Utah Constitutional Amendment G in the November election.Amendment G poses a question: Should your income tax dollars continue to fund just public and higher education, or would you be OK diverting some of that money to non-educational purposes FYI, the Utah Constitution presently requires that your inco
  
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• Coronavirus pandemic highlights deep-rooted problems in Indian Health Service

  29-09-2020 19:57
  
  Window Rock, Ariz. • Matalynn Lee Tsosie showed up at the Indian Health Service hospital in Gallup, New Mexico, one day in April feeling poorly and having trouble breathing. When her coronavirus test came back positive, the hospital gave her a prescription for an inhaler, an oxygen tank and orders to go home and rest.Three days later Tsosie, a 40-year-old secretary for the local school system, was back at the hospital, this time in dire condition. But the hospital was ill-equipped to handle
  
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• Some scholars see Trump years adding to problems abroad for LDS Church

  29-09-2020 19:00
  
  There’s an old saying that in order to be converted to the message, you have to be converted to the messenger.So David Erland Isaksen, an assistant professor in business communication at the University of South-Eastern Norway and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, worries his Utah-based faith is having a harder time attracting converts abroad in an era when the U.S. government is withdrawing from alliances, stifling immigration and failing to control COVID-19.&ldq
  
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• Utahns honor first woman to vote by correcting misspelled gravestone

  29-09-2020 18:55
  
  For more than 80 years, the grave of the first woman to vote under an equal suffrage law in the United States was marked with a misspelled name. Not anymore.On Tuesday morning, her descendants, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and others gathered at Seraph Young’s corrected headstone in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.“She was a pioneer for women’s suffrage,” Herbert said in a press call after the wreath-laying ceremony. Her story is an example of how people today ca
  
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• Tennessee Titans have NFL’s first COVID-19 outbreak, with 8 positives

  29-09-2020 18:05
  
  Nashville, Tenn. • The Tennessee Titans suspended in-person activities through Friday after the NFL says three Titans players and five other personnel tested positive for the coronavirus.The NFL issued a statement Tuesday saying both the Titans and Minnesota Vikings suspended in-person activities following the test results. The Titans beat the Vikings 31-30 in Minneapolis on Sunday.“Both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA, including our infectious disease experts, to
  
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• Utah governor’s emergency coronavirus orders continue to frustrate conservatives

  29-09-2020 15:13
  
  Utah lawmakers are the target of an onslaught of emails, phone calls, and social media messages urging them to meet in a special session to end Utah’s COVID-19 related state of emergency.“I’ve never seen such an organized communications effort from my constituents since I’ve been in office,” said Senate Majority Whip Dan Hemmert, R-Orem. “It’s not the usual group of people who reach out on an issue. These are people I know.”Driving the public outcr
  
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• For Utahns, impact of Trump tax report may be in the eye of the beholder

  29-09-2020 14:30
  
  State Sen. Ralph Okerlund — one of President Donald Trump’s earliest supporters in Utah — offered a typical reaction for die-hard GOP Trump enthusiasts in Utah to a New York Times report that Trump has paid almost no federal taxes for years.“I certainly believe that [Trump] is right when he talks about it being ‘fake news,’ ” Okerlund, R-Monroe, said. “The media obviously has been at full-sprint mode trying to get rid of him for his entire term,&rd
  
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• Future of Utah’s rooftop solar industry at stake in utility rate case starting Tuesday

  29-09-2020 14:15
  
  A two-week hearing starting Tuesday before the Utah Public Service Commission could result in a “make-or-break” ruling for the rooftop solar industry in one of the nation’s sunniest states.The three-member PSC panel is weighing competing proposals for the amount Utah electrical-utility customers are to be credited for excess solar power they export into the grid for their neighbors to use.Rocky Mountain Power, Utah’s largest utility, is seeking an 84% reduction, while sol
  
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• Robert Kirby: Maybe we should try a police draft and elephants instead of dogs

  29-09-2020 14:00
  
  It’s time for serious police reform in America.Not only do some police officers fail to do their jobs properly, but there are people telling them how awful they are who don’t have a clue about how to do the job themselves.I can fix that.We could do what the Salt Lake City Police Department has done and suspend certain police practices such as the use of its K-9 program. After all, people don’t like being bitten, especially if they don’t deserve it. Or even if they do.But
  
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• LDS presidential candidates: One GOP nomination, one assassination, many attacks for church views — but never a win

  29-09-2020 14:00
  
  Democrat Joe Biden seeks to become the second-ever Catholic U.S. president. President Donald Trump is among nine Presbyterians who became commander in chief. Episcopalians hold the record for most presidents: 11.No Latter-day Saint has ever won the job — but it’s not for lack of trying. In fact, this is the first presidential election since 2004 when no member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a significant candidate.Ten nationally known church members (or f
  
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• Charles M. Blow: We don’t need debates

  29-09-2020 14:00
  
  The first column I ever wrote was about the April 2008 Democratic presidential debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It took place in the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.The debate was a mess. As I wrote at the time:“The moderators spent about 40 minutes on a trite list of recriminations apparently intended to bait the candidates into a ‘Jerry Springer’-like brawl. Barack Obama was again asked to address the kerfuffle he caused by labeling rural voters &
  
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• A new program looks to fund, support Utah’s Black female business owners

  29-09-2020 14:00
  
  Motivated by their shared love for fashion, Jasmine and Angelique Gordon launched a personal styling business out of their living room in 2014. Six years later, the sisters now welcome customers to their Salt Lake City storefront.Before starting A’la Mode, though, the two had no experience running a company."We didn’t really see a lot of options for funding,” Jasmine said. So, the sisters pooled their money and were mentored by a Salt Lake City restaurant owner.If New Pattern U
  
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• Letter: How democracies fail

  29-09-2020 13:06
  
  Public health and masks are the reason for democracy in the first place.In ages past, kings took poor care of small farmers and villagers. They protected the inhabitants of the castle during outbreaks while others suffered.Plutarch tells about a group of people who had their property seized for debts and then were sent to colonize a plague-infested area. In quick order, they rose up and established the famous Roman democracy, so they could have good health like the wealthy landowners.The ancient
  
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• Nicholas Kristof: To beat Trump, mock him

  29-09-2020 07:00
  
  Can critics of President Donald Trump learn something from pro-democracy movements in other countries?Most Americans don’t have much experience confronting authoritarian rulers, but people around the globe are veterans of such struggles. And the most important lesson arguably is “laughtivism”: the power of mockery.Denouncing dictators has its place, but sly wit sometimes deflates them more effectively. Shaking one’s fist at a leader doesn’t win people over as much a
  
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• Three killed in Northern California wildfire; thousands flee

  29-09-2020 05:57
  
  San Francisco • Northern California’s wine country was on fire again Monday as strong winds fanned flames in the already scorched region, destroying homes and prompting orders for nearly 70,000 people to evacuated. Meanwhile, three people died in a separate fire further north in the state.In Sonoma County, residents of the Oakmont Gardens senior living facility in Santa Rosa boarded brightly lit city buses in the darkness overnight, some wearing bathrobes and using walkers. They wore
  
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• Worldwide death toll from coronavirus eclipses 1 million

  29-09-2020 05:51
  
  New Delhi • The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus has eclipsed 1 million, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders' resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work.“It’s not just a number. It’s human beings. It’s people we love,” said Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of medical history at the University of Michigan who has advised government officials
  
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• Richard A. Friedman: How to debate someone who lies

  29-09-2020 05:00
  
  When Joe Biden debates President Trump on Tuesday, he will have to figure out how to parry with an opponent who habitually lies and doesn’t play by the rules.As a psychiatrist, I’d like to offer Biden some advice: Don’t waste your time fact-checking the president. If you attempt to counter every falsehood or distortion that Trump serves up, you will cede control of the debate. And, by trying to correct him, you will paradoxically strengthen the misinformation rather than underm
  
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• Ethics experts see national security concern in Trump’s debt

  29-09-2020 04:05
  
  Washington • Revelations that President Donald Trump is personally liable for more than $400 million in debt are casting a shadow over his presidency that ethics experts say raises national security concerns he could be manipulated to sway U.S. policy by organizations or individuals he’s indebted to.New scrutiny of Trump, who claims great success as a private businessman, comes after The New York Times reported that tax records show he is personally carrying a staggering amount of deb
  
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• Letter: Good causes have killed the goose

  29-09-2020 04:04
  
  I live on Social Security and a modest pension and have always considered it an obligation and a privilege to share with the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the local animal shelter and food banks.However, somehow my name was “shared” with every charity on the face of the Earth. If I were to give a minimum $20 to all requests, I would be mailing off over $100 a day.“Every child in Africa and Central America needs food and/or major surgery.” “Save the elephants.”
  
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• Trump, Biden prepare to debate at time of mounting crises

  29-09-2020 03:42
  
  Cleveland • In an election year like no other, the first debate between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, could be a pivotal moment in a race that has remained stubbornly unchanged in the face of historic tumult.The Tuesday night debate will offer a massive platform for Trump and Biden to outline their starkly different visions for a country facing multiple crises, including racial justice protests and a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans and
  
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• Reformatted NBA draft combine opens with some top prospects and a possible Jazz target speaking to reporters

  29-09-2020 03:31
  
  Maryland forward Jalen Smith (25) after he cut the net after they won a share of the Big Ten regular season title after defeating Michigan in an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in College Park, Md. Maryland won 83-70. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) | AP SALT LAKE CITY — The NBA’s annual draft combine kicked off on Monday, though that doesn’t mean the same thing that it has in years past.Usually the combine takes place in Chicago, in May, with many of the incoming pr
  
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• Letter: Mitt Romney’s moral obligation

  29-09-2020 03:00
  
  Dear Sen. Romney,My letter today is to implore you to not fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court during this election year. Though I tend to vote for liberal candidates, I voted for you for president and Senate. I have always been impressed by your intellect, integrity and public service. I was moved by your speech that justified the vote to impeach Trump. You spoke about doing what’s right and upholding the Constitution, even if it goes against what your political party is pressuring you t
  
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• Commentary: General Conference would be a good time for the LDS Church to apologize to the Black community

  29-09-2020 02:14
  
  I’ve recently been collecting stories — some of the first oral histories of Black Southern women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They’ll be housed in a digital archive at Claremont Graduate University and available to researchers and curious laypersons. Before I let them settle there, I wanted to write about them here. The love and anger and peace and trouble they express about the church, and the people in it, are worth sharing.Each of the Black women I int
  
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• Letter: We’re disappointed with Davis School District

  29-09-2020 02:00
  
  Our daughter has taught in the Davis County School District for the past 24 years. She loves teaching and has had a fulfilling career. This summer, she was faced with a difficult employment decision. She has Type 1 diabetes and with the COVID-19 pandemic, her doctor instructed her that it was unsafe for her to return to her classroom. Because she loves teaching, she spent hundreds of dollars of her own money on plexiglass and other supplies to make her classroom safer for her and her students.As
  
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• Utah’s rate of coronavirus cases continues to rise. State releases new school data.

  29-09-2020 01:30
  
  Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every weekday morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.With 827 new coronavirus cases reported Monday, Utah’s rolling rate of new diagnoses continued to rise, passing 1,000 for the first time.For the past week, the Utah Department of Health has tallied 1,001 new positive test results p
  
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• Joe Redburn, founder of two famous Salt Lake City gay bars, dies in homeless shelter at 82

  29-09-2020 01:27
  
  Joe Redburn, the founder of two iconic Salt Lake City gay bars who brought the beer for what became the first Utah Pride celebration, has died.Redburn died Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Men’s Resource Center in South Salt Lake City, according to the LGBTQ magazine Q Salt Lake, which first reported his death. He was 82. The magazine said officials had not released a cause of death.“He wasn’t just a bar owner. He built our community and kept us safe,” said Roy Li Zhang, chairpe
  
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• George Pyle: Why ‘our Mussolini’ can’t afford to lose

  29-09-2020 01:00
  
  “The peaceful transfer of power is a thing of beauty. One moment Barack Obama is leader of the Free World. A moment later it’s Angela Merkel.”— George Takei, on Twitter, 12:15 p.m., Jan 20, 2017It was, maybe, 30 years ago that a friend of mine ran for a seat in the Missouri Legislature on a platform that nearly made up in honesty what it lacked in almost everything else.“I need the job.”He lost. But nobody ever asked to see his tax returns.Americans now have c
  
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• Man who drew bow and arrow on Salt Lake City protesters pleads guilty

  29-09-2020 00:38
  
  The man who drew a bow and arrow on Salt Lake City protesters in May pleaded guilty Monday to two charges in connection to the confrontation.Brandon McCormick, 58, admitted to possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and aggravated assault. Both are third-degree felonies, which carry a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.He is expected to be sentenced Nov. 2.Hundreds of people gathered near Salt Lake City Hall and the downtown library May 30 to protest the death of Georg
  
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• Utah solicitor general apologizes, agrees to pay $3,750 for erroneous court filing

  29-09-2020 00:36
  
  Utah’s new solicitor general has apologized and agreed to pay $3,750 in attorney fees after a federal judge warned she was facing possible sanctions for making “patently false” statements that bogged down a class action lawsuit.Melissa Holyoak, who was named Utah’s solicitor general earlier this month, did not admit wrongdoing but did write in her response to the court that she was “chagrined by my failure to meet the high standards I hold myself to.” She made
  
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• Bagley Cartoon: Bad Faith

  29-09-2020 00:20
  
  This Pat Bagley cartoon appears in The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. You can check out the past 10 Bagley editorial cartoons below:Looking for TroubleUtah SkillsVote!Notorious RBGHis Story HistorySpiking the RonaRevenge of the DemsFire StarterLowering the BarrOver the RainbowWant more Bagley? Become a fan on Facebook.
  
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